Welcome to On the Trail, a travel blog for RVers. In the weeks and months ahead, join me as I report from all over the United States and Canada. I’ll be poking my nose into interesting places, talking to all kinds of people, and offering readers all sorts of ideas about places to visit and things to see and do along the way.
For a taste of the kind of things I’m liable to toss your way, check out this picture of my motorhome parked in front of Matanuska Glacier in Alaska last summer. You won’t find this campground in any of the directories; in fact it’s little more that a gravel road that ends in a trail leading to the glacier. But, for a modest fee, the owners of the land allow you to dry camp in the shadow of this moving river of ice. As you revel in the scenery, you’ll hear the ice crack and groan as gravity pulls it downstream.
Tip for glacier campers: Hike down to the face of the glacier, only a couple hundred yards, and chip some ice for your favorite beverage. As the ice melts to chill your drink, listen closely and you’ll hear a slight fizzing or popping sound. What you’re hearing is air that has been trapped in the ice for thousands of years being released.